Italy’s top story on Wednesday:

Two members of Italy’s coast guard and four police officers are under investigation over a deadly shipwreck that killed 94 migrants in February 2023, prosecutors in the southern city of Crotone said on Tuesday, according to Ansa.

Prosecutors said in a statement that the six officials may stand trial on charges of manslaughter and negligence in connection to alleged delays in sea rescue operations. 

A judge was set to rule in the coming weeks on whether or not prosecutors’ investigation warranted a formal trial.

The Cutro shipwreck is one of the deadliest maritime disasters in Italian history as it claimed the lives of at least 94 migrants, including 35 children, who died after their heavily overcrowded sailboat sank in stormy weather just off Calabria’s coast, southern Italy.

Police seize €121 million from Amazon over ‘worker exploitation’ probe

Italy’s financial police on Tuesday carried out a preventive seizure order of €121 million against the Italian branch of e-commerce giant Amazon in connection to a probe into tax fraud and worker exploitation allegations, according to national media reports.

Milan prosecutors said the investigation is related to the alleged use of “labour reservoirs” – a system under which companies unlawfully subcontract logistics services to “filter” firms to pay labourers lower rates and avoid social security payments.

Prosecutors said that Amazon used a “complex tax fraud system” that resulted in “high losses for state finances and ongoing cases of worker exploitation”.

Similar investigations have been opened into the practices of other large companies operating in Italy in recent months. These include couriers DHL and GLS, and supermarket chains Lidl and Esselunga.

Illegal building offences up by 37 percent in two-year period, report finds

Illegal construction offences rose by some 37 percent between 2021 and 2023, the latest Ecomafia report from Italian environmental organisation Legambiente said on Monday, according to Ansa.

The report said that a total of “34,714 building crimes were recorded from 2021 to 2023, for an average of 31.7 a day, one every 45 minutes”.

Over 40 percent of recorded offences were committed in one of Campania, Puglia, Calabria or Sicily, but figures highlighted “growing critical issues in Lazio and Tuscany”.

Almost 37,000 people were reported in connection with illegal building offences between 2021 and 2023, with over 5,000 real estate seizures carried out by authorities.

Venice film festival unveils star-studded lineup

Cinema stars including Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman and Hollywood pals George Clooney and Brad Pitt are all expected on the red carpet of Venice’s film festival this year, organisers said on Tuesday, according to AFP.

The most hotly awaited films include Joker: Folie a Deux by director Todd Phillips, starring Joaquin Phoenix alongside Lady Gaga.

Other hot tickets are Maria by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, in which Jolie plays Greek soprano Maria Callas during her final days, and Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s latest work The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

Five Italian films have made the cut, including Queer, the latest by Luca Guadagnino, starring former James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

The 81st edition of the oldest film festival in the world will run from August 28th to September 7th, with 21 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion award.